One has to be either a fool or a complicit coward not to recognize the mercilessness regularly perpetrated on humankind by immoral governments and their tyrannical leaders. Equally clueless are those who don't realize that the worldwide, mass immigration being used as a scapegoat by said guilty-as-sin autocrats is in essence a product of their regimes' greed, racism and ineptness. Ever notice that the really bad guys are never ever wrong? While Rick in "Casablanca" (1942) occasionally confesses to a lack of judgement, you'll never hear good Nazi Major Strasser admitting a mistake. Civics Lesson No. 1: Rick is good; Major Strasser is bad. What all this has

WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. — Mount Greylock Regional School District will present its annual musical theater production on Friday and Saturday, March 22 and 23, at 7 p.m. in the newly remodeled auditorium at Mount Greylock Regional School on Cold Spring Road.

More than 40 members of the Mount Greylock student body will present "Hello, Dolly!," with music and lyrics by Jerry Herman and book by Michael Stewart. Based on the play "The Matchmaker" by 20th century American playwright Thornton Wilder, "Hello, Dolly!" is the story of a delightful - and adventurous - day spent in turn-of-the-century New York City.

Unless you're a card-carrying, dyed-in-the-wool devotee of comic-book film extravaganzas like "Captain Marvel," they can be extremely difficult to follow. Each is chockfull of series lore, a veritable encyclopedia of minutiae that aficionados of the genre demand, and from which they deliriously kvell when given the slightest opportunity to relate in oral treatise. While too lazy to submerge my gray matter into the seemingly endless intricacies each example of the filmic breed holds, I am respectful of the passion, even if it's just to prove I'm not as much a fuddy-duddy and beside the point as I actually am. As a stranger in a strange land, my modus operandi is

Atkinson returns in the role of Texas Gov. Ann Richards. LENOX, Mass. — WAM Theatre's fall 2018 production of "ANN" by Holland Taylor was a record-breaking success. Now it's moving to the Arena Stage in Washington, D.C., and Dallas Theater Center for a new co-production of the Jayne Atkinson-starring production in July and October of this year. WAM's Artistic Director Kristen van Ginhoven will again direct the production and Atkinson returns to star in the title role. The one-woman play "ANN" is a spirited portrait of Ann Richards, legendary governor of Texas, a complex, colorful, and captivating character, with a personality

In my bedroom when I was little, a sloppily misplaced piece of clothing on a chair in the dark of night sure could look like a saber-toothed tiger. Experiencing this and other such optical illusions every so often during those tender years, I estimate that I adequately satisfied the quota for horror that one must endure in a lifetime. Hence, it should go without saying that horror and all its filmic relations are my least favorite forms of cinema entertainment. Nevertheless, in the esprit de corps of being an equal opportunity film critic, I like to think I approach every such movie with an open-minded challenge. But hark, in every instance, I am also on a mission. It is my

STOCKBRIDGE, Mass. — The Norman Rockwell Museum presents "The Art and Wit of Rube Goldberg," an exhibit exploring the humorous illustrations of the visionary artist, who has become famous for the creative inventions bearing his name.

On view at the museum from March 2 through June 9, the exhibit will offer a revealing look at Goldberg's creativity through original comic strips from the 1930s, where the artist created his complicated machines, as well as later political cartoons and instructional materials from the Famous Artists School, which are now part of the permanent collection of Norman Rockwell Museum.

Watching director Stephen Merchant's "Fighting with My Family," about a tight-knit family of professional wrestlers whose two youngest members have aspirations of making the big time, I, of course, had to think of my father. Daniel Goldberger, a trucking company owner who submerged into the Polish underground in 1939 just before the Nazis confiscated his trucks and painted swastikas on them, was a kind but serious man. Even his jokes more often than not made a point, which played quite entertainingly against Mom's rather satiric sense of humor. Thus it is an anomaly I've never figured out that my Dad loved professional wrestling. It was as if he simply

PITTSFIELD, Mass. — The Miss Hall's School Theater Ensemble makes plans for a wedding in its upcoming winter musical, the ABBA-inspired "Mamma Mia!"

Performances will take place at 8 p.m. on Friday, March 1, and Saturday, March 2, and at 2 p.m. on Sunday, March 3. All shows take place in the Woods Theater of the Elizabeth Gatchell Klein Arts Center on the Miss Hall's campus. General admission is $10, and reservations are recommended. Senior citizen and handicapped-accessible seating is available. Visit the website for tickets or call 413-443-6401.

Set on a fictional Greek Island, "Mamma Mia!" tells the story of Sophie, who dreams of a "perfect"

LENOX, Mass. — The WAM team has announced the cast for their spring Main Stage production, the world premiere of "Lady Randy" by Anne Undeland.

After two preview performances, the production opens April 20 at Shakespeare & Company’s Elayne P. Bernstein Theatre, and runs through May 5.

"Lady Randy" is an historical drama about Jennie Jerome, mother of Winston Churchill. The play was first developed by Undeland and director Jim Frangione at the Berkshire Playwrights' Lab, making this a true collaboration of regional talent.

Undeland will play the title role, with WAM newcomer Mark Zeisler is playing the roles of Winston Churchill, Leonard Jerome,

First things first. Unlike the 1932 Rodgers and Hart classic song "Isn't It Romantic?" director Todd Strauss-Schulson's convivially entertaining romantic comedy, "Isn't It Romantic," forsakes the question mark at title's end. All of which is either a mental slip or intended to suggest a more demonstrative, rhetorical meaning. In other words, no question about it: It Is Romantic! In such case, an exclamation point would have been a more apt substitute for the question mark, and I would have been left without a pretentious, opening paragraph. To tarry further, as I'm prone to do when the film in question doesn't necessitate